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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy invoked William Shakespeare and Winston Churchill in an address to the British Parliament, pleading for sanctions, weapons and safe skies.
“You didn't want to lose your country when Nazis wanted to take your country,” he said. “And you had to fight for Britain.”
Taking inspiration from Churchill's “fight them on the beaches” speech during the Second World War, Mr Zelenskyy said: “We will continue fighting for our land, whatever the cost. We will fight in the forests, the fields, the shores and in the streets.”
He also paraphrased Shakespeare's Hamlet to tell MPs Ukraine was determined “to be” .
Mr Zelenskyy thanked Prime Minister Boris Johnson and called on the UK for more support.
“We are looking for your help, for the help of western counties. We are thankful for this help, and I am grateful to you, Boris," he said.
“Please increase the pressure of sanctions against this country [Russia] and please recognise this country as a terrorist country.
“Please make sure that our Ukrainian skies are safe.
“Please make sure that you do what needs to be done and what is stipulated by the greatness of your country.”
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A Ukrainian serviceman walks past the vertical tail fin of a Russian Su-34 bomber lying in a damaged building in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP Photo -
An apartment building damaged after shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP Photo -
A woman puts her head in her hands as she sits on a cot in a shelter, set up for displaced persons fleeing Ukraine, inside a school gymnasium in Przemysl, Poland. AP Photo -
Belarussian and suspected Russian helicopters on the flight line at Machulishchy Air Base outside Minsk, Belarus. AP Photo -
Children look on as people fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine shelter in a school, in Drohobych, Ukraine. Reuters -
Families eat in the shelter. Reuters -
A woman looks out from a building damaged by Russian shelling in Mykolaiv, 100 kilometres away from Odesa, western Ukraine. AFP -
A wounded Ukrainian man waits in the corridor of the central hospital of Mykolaiv. AFP -
An elderly woman is carried in a shopping cart after being rescued from Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. AP -
A woman reacts as a train carrying children from Kyiv's Central Children's Hospital leaves the Ukrainian capital on its way to Lviv. Reuters -
A girl sits in an improvised bomb shelter in Mariupol, Ukraine. AP -
An elderly woman is coated in snow as she sits in a wheelchair after being rescued from Irpin. AP -
Belarusian volunteers take part in military exercises at the Belarusian Company base in Kyiv. AP -
Lessa, left, director of a nursery school turned into a refugee shelter, cries as she hugs Olega, who arrived from Kyiv with her baby, near Lviv. EPA -
Ukrainians pass a damaged bridge as they flee from Irpin. AP -
A man carries an elderly woman as people continue to leave Irpin. AP -
A soldier stands on a barricade made of sandbags in central Odesa, Ukraine. Reuters -
A charred Russian tank and captured tanks in the Sumy region. Reuters -
People rest at a temporary shelter for Ukrainian refugees in Przemysl, Poland. AFP -
Ukraine's ambassador to the Netherlands, Maksym Kononenko, third right, and his wife Tetiana Doroshenko, fourth left, attend a meeting of members of the Ukrainian community with Dutch King Willem-Alexander, third left, and Queen Maxima, second left, to discuss the situation in Ukraine, in The Hague. EPA -
A Ukrainian soldier looks at the destruction after shelling in Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv. AFP -
A refugee holds her dog as they wait for trains to Poland in Lviv, Ukraine. Reuters -
A woman ties ribbons in Ukrainian national flag colours in a girl's hair as people wait at a refugee assistance centre in Prague, Czech Republic. EPA -
A Ukrainian soldier carries an elderly woman crossing the Irpin river on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP -
Lena, who had never left Ukraine before fleeing into Moldova, feeds Dasha, 3, soon after crossing the border. Erin Clare Brown for The National -
Refugees without immediate plans to move further inland can stay the night in tents set up on Moldova's side of the border. Erin Clare Brown for The National -
Tatiana and her son wait for a van that will carry them from the Moldovan border to Chisinau. Erin Clare Brown for The National -
Each night, the Palanca refugee camp in Moldova feeds up to 300 people who arrive with no onward plans. Erin Clare Brown for The National -
People pass a damaged bridge while fleeing the town of Irpin, close to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. AP -
A Ukrainian soldier stands guard next to a church in Irpin. EPA -
A firefighter holds the baby of a Ukrainian refugee at the border in Romania. AP -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks in Kyiv. Reuters -
A Ukrainian soldier at a checkpoint in Kyiv. AP -
Ukrainian activist Ihor Mazur, left, a veteran of the war in the country's east, looks at a night-vision device in Kyiv. AP -
Ambassadors attend a UN Security Council meeting on threats to international security after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in New York. Reuters -
Ukraine's UN ambassador Sergey Kyslytsya holds a paper with an image of Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as he addresses the Security Council in New York. Reuters -
A road sign put up in support of Mr Zelenskyy outside Russia's embassy in Washington. AFP -
Ukrainian refugees at the train station in Lviv, western Ukraine. EPA -
Lethal and non-lethal Ukrainian aid is loaded on to a plane bound for Poland by Canadian soldiers in Trenton, Ontario. Reuters -
Volunteers carry medical aid and necessities at a train station in Lviv. EPA -
Everton players wear T-shirts in support of Ukraine as they warm up for an English Premier League football match against Tottenham Hotspur. AP -
A residential building damaged by Russian shelling in Chernihiv, Ukraine. Reuters -
A man walks past a checkpoint in heavy snow in Lviv. Getty -
A man fleeing fighting in Irpin waits to cross a river after Russian forces entered the city. Getty -
Soldiers assist Irpin residents underneath a damaged bridge as they flee. Getty -
Ukrainian civilians who volunteered to join the Territorial Defence Forces take part in a training exercise in Odesa after Russia's invasion. Reuters -
Men carry a body to a lorry as people flee from the frontline town of Irpin. EPA -
A Ukrainian police officer runs with a child as the sound of shelling echoes nearby in Irpin. AP -
Parents and children struggle to board a train in Lviv. AP
The address came shortly after the US and the UK announced the phasing out of imported Russian oil and oil products.
He took MPs and lords through 13 days of life under Russian fire.
Mr Zelenskyy said Ukraine faced a dilemma similar to the one Britain faced in the Second World War.
“In his [Zelenskyy's] righteous defence I believe he has moved the hearts of everybody in this House," Mr Johnson said.
“At this moment, ordinary Ukrainians are defending their homes and their families against a brutal assault and they are, by their actions, inspiring millions by their courage and their devotion.”
Mr Johnson said the UK would be as generous as possible to Ukrainians fleeing the war as criticism continued over the glacial pace of processing visa applications.
He told his Cabinet the UK was continuing to supply “lethal defensive aid and equipment” to bolster the Ukrainian forces' “heroic” resistance, a government spokesman said.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons, said on Monday that he had granted the request for Mr Zelenskyy to read a statement on the Russian crisis.
“Every parliamentarian wants to hear directly from the president, who will be speaking to us live from Ukraine, so this is an important opportunity for the House,” Mr Hoyle said.
MPs watch the speech on screens that were installed overnight above either side of the chamber, officials said.
More than 500 headsets were made available to enable the UK’s elected representatives to hear a translation into English.
Later during his daily address to Ukraine, Mr Zelenskyy said Britain’s move to punish Vladimir Putin by phasing out Russian oil by the end of the year will send a “powerful signal” to the world.
Mr Zelenskyy welcomed the announcement coordinated between the US and UK on Tuesday to hurt Russia financially over its invasion of Ukraine.
“This is a powerful signal to the whole world," Mr Zelenskyy went on to say.
“Either Russia will respect international law and not wage wars, or it will have no money.”
